The Lions should give one of their former players another shot at training camp this year

As soon as the 2023 NFL season concluded, the one thing that seemed like a forgone conclusion was that the Detroit Lions would release Tracy Walker to free up some cap. Nobody wanted to see it happen, but Walker was making quite a bit of money for a player that had been declining. 

As time has gone on, the the idea of bringing back Walker on a reduced rate has seemed like something the Lions should explore. With the Lions safety group not totally defined at the moment, the Lions have the opportunity to do that exploring now. 

Walker was drafted by the Lions in the third-round of the 2018 NFL Draft and came on strong in 2021. He was one of the Lions best players that season. Unfortunately he tore his Achilles early into the 2022 season and it affected what should have been his prime.

Walker returned from the injury in 2023 and struggled to recapture what he had during the 2021 season. He was eventually benched in favor of Ifeatu Melifonwu and was then inactive during all three of the Lions playoff games.

The Lions don’t need him to start at this point. They have Brian Branch, Kerby Joseph and Melifonwu in place. What Walker could do is compete for a spot on the team and be solid depth that can rotate in when needed and play in relief if there's injury.

Last season the Lions brought four safeties into the season initially. Three are accounted for already, then there's a fourth spot that C.J. Moore, Loren Strickland, Brandon Joseph and Chelen Garnes are fighting for right now. We've been predicting that the Lions would start the season with five safeties to allow them to have more wiggle room with their rotation. Moore seems like a lock to be in the fourth spot. Now there's a fifth spot to fight for and Walker could secure that and get a chance to play with Moore being used mor eon special teams than anything. 

It's worth a look and it could be a lot cheaper this time around. It could also be easy to track him down since Walker has been hanging around in Detroit lately.